Contents

The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood was organized in 1987.[6][7] Its origins lie with a talk by Wayne Grudem on "Manhood and Womanhood in Biblical and Theological Perspectives" at a 1986 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), where he invited delegates to join "a new organization dedicated to upholding both equality and differences between men and women in marriage and the church."[8] This was followed by a meeting in Dallas with Grudem, John Piper, Wayne House, and others.[8] A subsequent meeting was held in Danvers, Massachusetts. Here the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood was finalized.[9] A full page advertisement containing the full Danvers Statement was published in Christianity Today in January 1989.[10]

The Danvers Statement[13] has been endorsed or adopted by the Southwestern Baptist Seminary[14] and several independent churches.[15][16] Randall Balmer says that the Statement was an attempt to "staunch the spread of biblical feminism in evangelical circles."[17] Seth Dowland suggests that the authors of the statement "framed their position as a clear and accessible reading of scripture.[18] The Danvers Statement is included in readers such as Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader (NYU Press, 2008) and Eve and Adam: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim readings on Genesis and gender (Indiana University Press, 2009).

The Danvers Statement recognised the "genuine evangelical standing of many who do not agree with all of our convictions."[19] In 1994, three leaders of CBMW met with Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) for discussions. While there was much dialog, little agreement was found.[citation needed]

In 1998, the organisation established a British branch, in which Terry Virgo was active.[20]

As of December 2010, the CBMW had a funding level of around $127,000, down from $336,000 two years earlier.[7]

^Dowland, Seth (2009). "A New Kind of Patriarchy: Inerrancy and Masculinity in the Southern Baptist Convention, 1979-2000". In Friend, Craig Thompson. Southern masculinity: perspectives on manhood in the South since Reconstruction. University of Georgia Press. p. 258.